Andrew Wiggins was a man of very few words early in his career. It was nearly impossible to get him to speak complete sentences to reporters, let alone get him to express any sort of emotion in actual games.
Wiggins went about his business, and while some of the things he did on the court were special, his demeanor off of it left something to be desired.
In retrospect, though, that probably should’ve been expected.
Wiggins was a wide-eyed 19-year-old for crying out loud in the midst of his rookie season in the NBA. He couldn’t have felt 100 percent comfortable early on because everything was so new to him — teammates, coaches, schemes, the Twin Cities, everything.
So the fact that he was a little reserved a few months ago makes absolute sense.
It’s clear that a lot has changed 74 games into what looks like could soon become an illustrious NBA career. Wiggins has been more forthcoming with reporters as of late (good not great), more aggressive on the floor (he’s getting to the free throw line at a great clip over the last couple weeks), and he’s even starting to express some genuine emotion after big plays (we’ll get to this part in the next paragraph).
Exhibit A: Wiggins momentarily lost his mind after ridiculous throw down over the 7-foot-2 Rudy Gobert on Monday night against the Utah Jazz. He handled a pass from Lorenzo Brown, cut to the bucket, rose up, cocked back, and hammered home a thunderous slam over the outstretched arms of Gobert.
Wiggins flexed hard afterwards and let out an uncharacteristic roar.
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A few months ago Wiggins likely would’ve trotted back to the other end of the court after that kind of play. He’s made a handful of spectacular plays this season, yet his reaction after the dunk over Gobert was his only memorable display of emotion so far.
“It’s good to see the emotional part of him come out more and more,” Chase Budinger said after the game. “He wasn’t like that in the beginning of the season. He was kind of shy and quiet. We definitely need that emotion to come out more and more. It was good to see it.”
Wiggins, however, had an easy explanation for his reaction to that particular play.
“I just haven’t done anything like that all year,” Wiggins said after the game.
That might be a fact. That being said it’s undeniable that Wiggins has slowly started to alter his demeanor as his rookie season has progressed. That SportsCenter worthy slam was a two-fold example of that change as it showcased his aggressiveness and his emotion.
“That was very impressive,” Budinger said. “It was a very special play and I thought the best part of that was at the beginning of the game I was telling him to be aggressive toward [Gobert]. I told him not to back down against him and try and dunk on him every time he gets into the lane. He definitely did that.”
Wiggins played with an unprecedented sense of aggression against the Jazz. He had another nasty thrown down late in the game and even seemed to be playing mad at times — and that’s not a bad thing by any means.
Gobert, however, got Wiggins back later in the game. Wiggins rose up and was ready for an encore slam and Gobert promptly met him at the rim to reject the attempt at another highlight. Wiggins fell to the floor after words and Gobert stood over him and flexed before running to the other end of the floor.
Wiggins proved in the game that he’s changed since early in the career. He also proved in the locker room after the game that he’s very much still the same person. He wouldn’t bite when a reporter asked about Gobert flexing over him.
“It’s all part of the game,” Wiggins said. “It’s like when someone dunks … and they scream. It’s all part of the game.”
That’s about Andrew Wiggins as it gets.